tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80993128585277851792024-03-14T09:18:48.393+07:00Review Buku DanielAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-71553577642409104612017-12-13T19:34:00.001+07:002017-12-13T19:34:57.706+07:00Top 10 Books I Read in 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If the productivity is calculated from the amount of books that you've read during that year, then 2017 will be my second least productive year ever. I only manage to read 62 books so far, down by seven books if you compare it with last year. The reason is because real life happens and I have two surprises—still related to books—that cost my night reading time. Now, my night is mostly filled with tears. But, it's all worth it, so I hope I can share it soon.</div>
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Most of books that I read in this year is still same old basic book, mostly young adult, some classic, some Indonesian popular #literature, and no <em>Infinite Jest</em> yet. Again. But, who cares? This is my top 10 books I read in 2017.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15815945-wonder">10. R.J. Palacio - <em>Wonder</em></a></h2>
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The idea of <em>Wonder</em> comes from R.J. Palacio's real-life experience when her son met a girl with a birth defect. Her son might only want to ask naïve questions innocuously, but Palacio's avoidance of awkward situation worsened it instead. What these wonderful kids actually need is a modicum of sense of normalcy from common people, not some pity or sympathy. That's actually what Auggie Pullman needs. He's not a boy with mere <em>mandibulofacial dysostosis</em>, but he's a regular 11-year-old boy who loves playing Xbox, a huge fans of Star Wars, and not ready to get in to middle school. From his voice, <em>Wonder </em>is brutally honest, wonderfully and poignantly written. It manages to tackle sensitive issue, some social stigma that's attached to special people in the most innocent way as possible, allowing both young and mature readers to understand how they should feel and behave around these special people.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15837671-turtles-all-the-way-down">9. John Green - <em>Turtles All the Way Down</em></a></h2>
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<em>Turtles All the Way Down</em> is not John Green's chief d'oeuvre yet (that still goes to <em>Looking for Alaska</em>), but if you think that Green's way of writing and storytelling can't improve, then you're definitely wrong here. It may still utilize Green's token characters (precocious, pretentious, quirky, nerdy, and acting like the world can't comprehend their wit), but in <em>Turtles All the Way Down</em> Green's craftsmanship glows. Every conversation is quotable and frameable and Tumblr-able, his words flow smoothly, and the book's ending is probably Green's most jaw-dropping and best ending ever. But, that's just cherry on top. The main desert of <em>Turtles All the Way Down</em> is how Green realistically portrays a girl—an embodiment of himself—who suffers anxiety and what happens when her head spirals uncontrollably. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/magazine/why-are-more-american-teenagers-than-ever-suffering-from-severe-anxiety.html">number of mental illness in teenagers may have increased alarmingly</a> in America, but people are beginning to be more aware of the danger of mental illness and Green's latest book may help educate people more.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28954189-scythe">8. Neal Shusterman - <em>Scythe</em></a></h2>
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Thou shalt not kill is the sixth commandment from Ten Commandments, but what happens when you're obliged to kill others since killing, or called gleaming in Neal Shusterman's latest work, <em>Scythe</em>, is a sacrosanct deed that needs carrying out to maintain the population? <em>Scythe</em> follows Citra and Rowan who were chosen to apprentice to Scythe Faraday, one of the most respectable Scythes in Midmerica. They must learn how to be a Scythe, until each of them must kill each other when they have finished their lesson. Shusterman is a master in proffering such moral dilemma, as showcased wonderfully in <em>Unwind</em>. To be frankly, <em>Scythe</em> still bears some verisimilitude with <em>Unwind</em> where both books explore the meaning of death and life. The fact that the characters in <em>Unwind</em> fought for their lives and believed that unwinding and erasing someone's existence from life is just wrong is juxtaposed with the utopian condition in <i>Scythe</i>, where people no longer die, yet they still hold on their life so tightly. In the end, this never-ending dilemma is the kind of problem that still lingers long after you've finished the book, one that tickles your mind.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82436.Looking_for_Alibrandi">7. Melina Marchetta - <em>Looking for Alibrandi</em></a></h2>
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Can you believe that this 1993's outstanding young adult book is Melina Marchetta's debut? With her compelling writing, Marchetta's <em>Looking for Alibrandi</em> is a young-adult book at its purest and finest, and it has established her as one of the best writers, one who's beyond her era. While most of contemporary young-adult books writers try to represent the underrepresented youth's voices by voicing the voices from minority ethnic or people who suffer disease or struggle with their sexuality, Marchetta's character sheet looks really drab. Her main characters are just a regular girl, almost plain-Jane, but she knows that even a regular girl has a loud story that deserves to be heard, and <em>Looking For Alibrandi</em>, in a way, explores the theme of teenage's quest to searching their identity and feminism and everything. The book rolls up like a roller-coaster rail, it builds you up, before Marchetta lets you slide down that, leaving you trainwrecked. There's no other author that can match Marchetta's ability, her skill is incomparable.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-problem">6. Liu Cixin - <em>The Three-Body Problem</em></a></h2>
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Most of renowned space operas always take place in a galaxy far far away, where intergalactic wars are inevitable, modern warships shoot deadly laser, obscure planets are everywhere, you mention the tropes. Cixin Liu takes a more down-to-earth route, where the setting of the first book of this exemplary science fiction series mostly takes place in Earth. But, it's not dull at all, as Liu gradually introduces us to the Trisolaris solar system. The book doesn't only explore the beginning of an inevitable war between human being and alien, but also explores the moral consequences, the internal war that happens between humanity. Liu does it in silence, without any loud clank or boom. <em>The Three-Body Problem</em> may be different than your typical sci-fi novel—with a touch of mystery and Chinese revolution history that becomes a foundation of the book—but there's a contemplative quality from the book that makes you ponder.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32075671-the-hate-u-give">5. Angie Thomas - <em>The Hate U Give</em></a></h2>
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On "Cranes in the Sky", Solange Knowles deals with rejection that black woman must receive every day in America. It sounds ironic, especially when people start to scream for gender and racial equality, but just because you don't see, it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. Starr Carter, a sixteen-year-old girl, probably understands this more than any other teenagers when she witnessed her best friend's shooting. Khalil was shot by people who were supposed to protect him. After the incident, there's a social movement, tumultuous riot that demanded justice for the white police, but in the middle of it was Starr, who must maneuver her way in society that commanded her to hide her black identity, to suppress her voice. But the loudest voice comes from the most silenced people, and <em>The Hate U Give</em> booms. It's fittingly released a month after Trump's inauguration, and in an era where discrimination has become a part of our daily life, <em>The Hate U Give</em> is important. Don't let the injustice prevail.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6643111-negeri-para-peri">4. Avianti Armand - <em>Negeri Para Peri</em></a></h2>
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On paper, Avianti Armand's <em>Negeri Para Peri</em> is not supposed to be my cup of tea. That's why when my friend lent me the book almost five years ago, I wasn't too eager to start reading the book. But, one night, I felt really bored and I decided to pick this book. That night turned out to be one of the best nights I've ever head. Its cover may be like a drab canvas, but it's a façade. <em>Negeri Para Peri</em> offers some of the bloodiest and darkest stories that I've ever read. The book itself is a collection of short stories, revolving around themes like betrayal, teleoiphilia, blood, or sexuality. Armand's trenchancy is showcased here with her choice of words, her twisty stories, her way of showing human's grotesque. But the book does not only rely on Armand's substantive words. There's an aesthetic here where Armand plays around with the layout of the book, with faded words or black paper. <em>Negeri Para Peri</em> is simply breathtaking, making me regret why I abandon this book for so long. Now my friend won't ever get this book back.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30649795-goodbye-days">3. Jeff Zentner - <em>Goodbye Days</em></a></h2>
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I would never expect that Jeff Zentner's <em>Goodbye Days</em> would've impacted me this much. The sophomore effort from the author of <em>The Serpent King</em> reminds me of Phil Elverum's heartbreaking album, <em>A Crow Looked at Me</em>, where Elverum laments the death of his wife, trying to make sense everything. But, death is an inevitability, we all know that. What's sardonically funny is that we seem to never prepare for the death's coming, no matter how prepared we think we are, we always lose. <em>Goodbye Days</em> begins with the bleakest scene in the history of young adult books where Carver Briggs attended the funeral of not one, not two, but his three best friends who died in car accident. Nothing can prepare him for such loss, especially he's the one who texted their friend before the accident occurred. He blamed himself for their deaths, but he's scared mostly. Scared of the future without his friends. But, the book is not about his lamentation. It's about finding closure. Death closes someone's chapter of life, but we, the lived ones, are the one who needs closure. Initially it's hard to put <em>Goodbye Days </em>down, but as the plot progresses, it gets visceral and emotional. It's rare thing that a bunch of teenage guys can cause me so much emotion.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36393774-laut-bercerita">2. Leila S. Chudori - <em>Laut Bercerita</em></a></h2>
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There's no other book this year that can squeeze my tear glands as hard as Leila S. Chudori's <em>Laut Bercerita</em>. The book forces us to remember one of the darkest times in Indonesian history, when your right to speak was suppressed, when you lived under the false sense of security. The narrative in <em>Laut Bercerita</em> is similar with the narrative on Dialita's <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/22hkmSDAqskLEL35I5WD2h" rel="nofollow">Dunia Milik Kita</a>, </i>a stupendous record by choir consisting women survivor or their children who must be exiled, tortured, and raped because of their alleged involvement with PKI. Both try to dig back the dark history that we've buried, even if their timeline is stretched for more than thirty years. <em>Laut Bercerita </em>mostly takes place during new order and a few years after reformation era, told by two main characters: Biru Laut and his sister Asmara. Biru Laut was an activist whose biggest dream is to impeach the president and democratize this country. He, alongside his other friends who have same vision, often protested the current government, but their little group was deemed as subversive by the government, forcing them to flee and become fugitive. We all know what will happen with Biru right from the start of the book, but his loved ones remained clueless. The second part of the book elaborates how his family unraveled from the eyes of Asmara. She's strong in the surface, she's strong for her family and her brother's lover, but inside, she's the one who's broken the most. But, she fought relentlessly, she fought for justice, she fought for all the missing people. In the end, her brother and all other missing people may never be found, but their spirit will never be unforgettable. Forever.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29594616-morning-star">1. Pierce Brown - <em>Morning Star</em></a></h2>
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Pierce Brown and Jeff Zentner may battle for the most handsome young adult author, but Pierce Brown can easily win the battle for best book I read this year. Brown's conclusion of his stunning Red Rising trilogy is, hands down, the best book that I've read this year. <em>Morning Star</em> amplifies the qualities that makes the trilogy stunning: twisted plot, gut-wrenching bloody scene, and heart-stopping moments. The trilogy is Darrow of Lykos' bildungsroman that allows us to join and fight alongside him, an epic war to bring justice even if he must sacrifice his own flesh and blood. Brown weaves the plot intricately, like a hard-working spider, and he does it consequently, even though he admits that writing <em>Morning Star</em> is harder than everything. He cloistered himself to finish the book, but he realized that this trilogy is a story of camaraderie and cloistering himself sure wouldn't help him finish it. What makes Darrow—and him—strong is the support and trust of his loved ones. and when we understand that, <em>Morning Star</em> becomes deeper than it intends. Red Rising trilogy isn't a story about how an austere man rises to power by himself, but a story about how weak and ordinary man rises to power arduously with the help of his friends. Even though the trilogy contains many death counts that's comparable to Martin's <em>ASOIAF</em>, Brown does it purposefully and beautifully, emphasizing the impact of each death for Darrow's pure heart. It's sure to hard to pick what's the best thing about the trilogy—Brown's enviable writing skill, its twisted plot, its characters—but Brown can't end the book more perfectly. It's a flawless ending, the only ending that respectably closes the journey of Darrow.</div>
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Now, tell me who's more handsome: Brown or Zentner in comment below?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-90267194986160215092017-06-27T23:10:00.001+07:002017-06-27T23:10:12.798+07:00Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jeff Zentner</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Goodbye Days</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crown Books</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">405 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.4 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">What if you could spend one last day with someone you lost?</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span id="freeTextreview2041453854" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818;">On Mount Eerie's </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGESP0iePmQ" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: red;">"Real Death"</span></a><span style="color: #181818;">, Phil Elverum laments the death of his wife. "Death is real," he solemnly begins, "Someone's there and then they're not." Elverum knows that death will come when his wife, Geneviève, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but nothing can prepare him for the real death. However, we all fully get the point. Death seems like an abstract matter, a distant concept. Death is certainty, we all know that, but no matter how ready we are to face it, we always lose, especially if it's related to our loved ones. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #181818;">Much like death, nothing can prepare us for Jeff Zentner's </span><i style="color: #181818;">Goodbye Days</i><span style="color: #181818;">, a marvelous sophomore effort from the writer of </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22752127.The_Serpent_King" rel="nofollow" title="The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner"><span style="color: red;">The Serpent King</span></a><span style="color: #181818;">. Right from the start, Zentner throws us directly to the bleakest scene in the history of young adult books. Carver Briggs, 17, just lost three best friends (Blake, Eli, and Mars) on a car accident. The catch was he was texting them when they drove the car and Carver pretty much blamed himself. But, guilt is one of the emotions that he feels right now. The death of his three best friends made him lonely, yet scared at the same time. He was scared when the parents of his best friends blamed the accident on him. He was scared when the school started, he will be alone. He was scared if he took advantage of his best friend's death by having feelings to beautiful Jesmyn, Eli's ex-girlfriend. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #181818;">Death closes the chapter of someone's life, yet we--the lived ones--all still feel the need to have some closure, and that's what's this book's all about: finding closure. Goodbye days is this twisted idea from Nana Betsy, Blake's grandmother, to have one day to celebrate the last day for Blake. As his death was abrupt, Nana Betsy who have raised Blake since he was eight, felt the urgency to do so. Yet, Carver was unsure until he had panic attacks and he met a shrink who made him realize that he and Nana Betsy need to close some chapter, a chapter with Blake. It's more or less what happens with the other parents from Eli and Mars, but their dynamic relationship and their stance on Carver's position on the accident may prove that goodbye days is a good idea after all. Then, Carver realized that there are sides of his friends that he never knows, and there are sides of his friends that their parents never know. On goodbye days, they all celebrate by reminiscing the real version of Carver's friends, unveiling heartbreaking and vivid details about Blake, Eli, and Mars. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #181818;">At first, it's hard to put </span><i style="color: #181818;">Goodbye Days</i><span style="color: #181818;"> down, but as you keep turning the pages, you find it that the book is too visceral and emotional. It's rare thing to see a bunch of teenage boys can do something that leaves you some deep impression, but here we have Carver with his kindness and sensitivity, the only "survivor" who tries to figure out his life after losing his friends. There are some time when he's catatonic, unable to feel anything because the pain is too much, but he was lucky to have supportive family and Jesmyn, the only person in this world what he actually felt. He often reminisces the past times when he met his friends for the first time, when they all had prank together, when they all were being stupid and presumptuous teenagers. But, as he starts to understand that the accident was not his fault, and his wounds start to heal, he reminisces less and moves on. He fully understands that moving on doesn't make him love his friends less, proven when he starts gathering his life together, he lets himself have one final sweet memory of his friend in a warm and beautiful late September. </span><br /><br /><i style="color: #181818;">Goodbye Days</i><span style="color: #181818;"> is a definitely a nice surprise, a realistic portrayal of how teens deal with death, a concept that's so abstract. We'll never know when death comes and we can't prepare for it. It's funny that death actually affects the living people than dead ones. Carver Briggs knows about it and he learns from it.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-73501015109854821002017-06-26T19:36:00.000+07:002017-06-26T19:36:02.384+07:00The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Liu Cixin</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Three-Body Problem</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tor Books</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">400 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.7 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Three-Body Problem</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multiple award winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">On</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> The Three-Body Problem </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Liu entertains his reader with a convincing speculative fiction about the battle between alien and human being without any clank or boom. It's quiet, but exhilarating.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The firmament above is disgustingly vast. It's steadfast, yet dynamic at the same time. You can always rely on stars above to get some direction, but at the same time the universe expands. We all move at the speed of light toward the big rip, one of the theories that speculate the end of the universe. There's a lot of mystery that's yet to be unveiled in the universe. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Compared to other science fiction works that tend to jump on galaxy far far away (I'm looking at you, Star Wars), Liu is humbler. He explores the closest star from the sun: Alpha Centauri. But even though it's just less than five years light away from our solar system, we still haven't figured out what's going on there. Liu believes there's a vicious alien race lurking in the Alpha Centaurian system, a stellar system that has three stars called Trisolaris. The movement of the stars is unpredictable, a representation of the three-body problem in physics world, and their civilization is about to end. Meanwhile on the earth's surface, the first contact to the alien has been established clandestinely. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Three-Body Problem</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> ventures the pre-beginning of a galactic star wars from the perspective of a human being. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Liu straight away begins the book with a brief history of Chinese Revolution that's bloody and heartbreaking, but this cemented the story. It explains the background of each character, and what they have gone through prior the first contact. Fast forward to decades later, new characters are introduced, yet they're still interconnected with the old ones. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Three-Body Problem</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is wrapped with mystery, and that's what makes you keep turning the pages. Starting from the mystery of scientists' suicide, until the mystery behind the Trisolaris system, you will be enticed by the beauty of the book. Don't shiver when you see the title of the book that's heavy with physics element. It's not light definitely, but the way Liu explains the theory and apothegms is easy to understand. And again, what differs this book from other sci-fi works is actually how close to the earth it is. It's a war against alien, but Liu writes it from the eye of human. That even though humanity is on the brink of destruction, there are some people who actually wish for the destruction itself. It makes you think, there's some contemplative quality from </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Three-Body Problem</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-28456889719615728292017-05-14T09:16:00.005+07:002017-05-14T09:16:52.686+07:00The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Angie Thomas</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Hate U Give</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Balzer & Bray</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">453 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.7 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hate U Give</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> was fittingly released one month after Donald Trump was inaugurated, a controversial president who's known for his discriminating policy, but the idea of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hate U Give</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> sparked eight years ago when Thomas made a short-story project for her senior year in 2009. The project was visceral, giving her some emotional restrain. But voicing the truths is important, no matter how painful it is, and all of the injustice from which every black community suffers, starting from </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trayvon_Martin_shooting" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: red;">Trayvon Martin</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: red;">Mike Brown</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Sandra_Bland" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: red;">Sandra Bland</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> (Dev Hynes of Blood Orange writes an emotional song about Sandra Bland in </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLPsk89aUKw" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: red;">"Sandra's Smile"</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">), and other African American people somehow strengthens her. It may be fifty years since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seats for white man, but the discrimination, prejudice, and injustice will always exist, especially in a time like this. Writing </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hate U Give</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is urgent. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">On one of the most beautiful songs that's ever written, </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qrinhNnOM" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: red;">"Cranes in the Sky"</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, Solange Knowles deals with the rejection that she gets just from being a black woman in America. In an era where people scream for the gender equality, "Cranes in the Sky" seems ironic, but Solange tells the story that other black women never have a chance to tell. Starr Carter, a sixteen year teenage girl probably understands this more than any of other teenagers, especially since she's the only witness of her best friend's shooting. Khalil was shot by people who are supposed to protect him. Before the incident, Starr was just a girl who lives in "ghetto" area of New York, who are considered to be lucky since she has complete parents figure and has a chance to study in one of the poshest schools in town. But after that, Starr is never the same when the news hits national media. Starr is afraid to talk, but that's what the authority expects her to be. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hate U Give</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> recounts her experience as she collects her courage and fins her voice. Sometimes the loudest voice comes from the most silenced people. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hate U Give</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> captivates you from the start thanks to Starr, the main character and the narrator of the book as she navigates herself through two opposite worlds that she has to go through. In her "ghetto" neighborhood, she must become a black girl who must embrace all black culture and such, especially considering her "strict" father who used to be a drug dealer. In her school, Starr is a popular jock whose boyfriend is the star athlete and happens to be white. It's hard especially since she's just one of few African American students and all spotlight goes directly to her. Starr seems to be able to juggle the world quite easily, but it all changes when Khalil was shot. She's become more aware of her identity, that she must be vocal in voicing what's right and what's wrong. In the most painful way, Starr must learn that letting go of your best friends, after weighing what's good and bad, is necessary and no matter how much you have struggled to get something that you believe it's true, sometimes life's a cold man who never let you get everything you want, but she knows that the most important thing is keep doing and saying the right things. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">In a world where everything seems to get worse, it has become essential not to be silence and let the injustice prevail. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hate U Give</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> has reminded us that discrimination isn't a good thing and something that we must fight against. The magic of the book is that it's not applied for only black people in America, but also minorities that scatter everywhere around the world.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-28905252143161221152017-03-11T20:10:00.004+07:002017-03-11T20:10:58.167+07:00Negeri Para Peri oleh Avianti Armand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Avianti Armand</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Negeri Para Peri</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Andramartin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">171 halaman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.8 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Saya tidak ingat sudah berapa tahun teman saya meminjamkan koleksi langka buku cetak </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, tapi yang saya ingat adalah saya sudah membiarkan buku ini teronggok dan tergeletak begitu saja tanpa ada hasrat untuk membaca hingga suatu malam ketika saya sedang bosan dan membongkar rak buku saya yang tidak terlalu banyak isinya, dan menemukan buku ini. Sampulnya berwarna putih pucat--jika itu mungkin terjadi--dan halamannya menguning dan tidak terlihat mengintimidasi, tetapi itu hanyalah fasad. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> adalah buku yang paling gelap yang pernah saya baca. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Saat sedang membaca </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, album terbaru Jens Lekman,</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Life Will See You Now</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, sedang </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">hot-hot</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">-nya dibahas. Album terbaru musisi asal Swedia ini seperti semacam oksimoron: terdengar pahit, tetapi Lekman mengemasnya dengan ceria. Lekman ingin menyeimbangkan akan tema lagu yang gelap dan menyedihkan dengan nada-nada, alunan biola, dan </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">synthesizer</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang ceria. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> terasa seperti kontradiksi. Saya merasa Armand tidak ingin repot-repot menyeimbangkan debut kumpulan cerpennya dengan menyelipkan cerita-cerita yang manis. Kalaupun ada cerita yang sedikit menghangatkan hati, Armand menutupnya dengan </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">twist</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang masam, seperti dalam cerita </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Mata</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Tema perselingkuhan, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">teleiophilia</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, darah, dan seksualitas mewarnai sebagian besar cerita dalam </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. Seperti dalam cerpen pembuka, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Ayah</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, yang menceritakan seorang gadis yang jatuh cinta pada kekasih ibunya, seorang pria yang seharusnya ia sebut ayah.</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Ayah</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> juga menjadi penentu </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">tone</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> cerita berikutnya, dan terasa lebih gelap dari sana. Dalam </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">highlight</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> kumpulan cerpen ini, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Pada Suatu Hari, Ada Ibu dan Radian</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang terinspirasi dari tulisan pertama Daniel, putra Armand, Armand mengambil langkah yang lebih jauh dalam menceritakan dampak kekerasan dalam rumah tangga dengan cerita yang berdarah dan pembunuhan keji. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Grotesque</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, barangkali kata yang tepat untuk menggambarkan cerita ini. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Pada Suatu Hari, Ada Ibu dan Radian</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> menggambarkan deformitas moral manusia yang diselipkan ke dalam sebuah cerita drama domestik. Kata-kata yang Armand gunakan cenderung sendu, tapi menyayat. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Tapi, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> tidak hanya mengandalkan kata-kata Armand. Jika saya mencermati sejumlah foto-foto hitam putih dan </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">layout</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> buku yang ada di dalam buku ini, saya berpikir hal tersebut bukan sekadar sebagai nilai estetis, melainkan juga menggambarkan sejumlah agenda tersembunyi yang Armand miliki. Seperti dalam cerita </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Cahaya</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, kertas yang digunakan tiba-tiba diblok hitam dan warna huruf yang putih, seperti percikan cahaya yang kita lihat saat melewati terowongan gelap yang panjang. Dalam cerita </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, cetakan huruf terlihat kabur, menggambarkan abstraksi negeri para peri yang Armand deskripsikan. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Saya belum pernah membaca sesuatu seperti </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Negeri Para Peri</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">sebelumnya, tetapi karya Armand yang pertama kali saya baca ini benar-benar </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">mindblowing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. Cantik, gelap, misterius, dan klandestin. Jika saya diberi kesempatan untuk memohon ampun, saya akan minta ampun karena sudah membiarkan buku ini teronggok.</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-57363686413393311992017-02-17T11:51:00.003+07:002017-02-17T11:51:38.767+07:00Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John Steinbeck</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of Mice and Men</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gramedia Pustaka Utama</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">144 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.4 <span style="color: red;">(Best Book)</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Suara George menjadi lebih dalam. Ia mengulangi kata-katanya dengan berirama, seolah ia sudah begitu sering mengucapkan kata-kata ini. "Orang-orang seperti kita, yang bekerja di peternakan, adalah orang-orang paling kesepian di dunia. Mereka tidak punya keluarga. Mereka tidak cocok di tempat mana pun. Mereka datang ke peternakan dan bekerja keras lalu pergi ke kota dan menghamburkan hasil kerja keras mereka, lalu setelahnya mereka banting tulang lagi di peternakan lain. Mereka tidak punya cita-cita." </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Kisah kontroversial tentang persahabatan dan tragedi pada masa-masa Depresi Besar. Mereka pasangan yang tidak lazim. George bertubuh kecil, berwajah muram; Lennie bertubuh besar dan pikirannya seperti anak kecil. Mereka adalah keluarga bagi satu sama lain, saling bantu, saling menjaga di tengah kehidupan berat sebagai pekerja musiman. Mereka punya mimpi: ingin membeli sepetak tanah untuk ditanami, dan pondok kecil. Ingin menjadi tuan atas diri sendiri. Tetapi nasib berkata lain.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">When I'm not busy working or playing Play Station, I spend most of my time by daydreaming. My favorite daydream? Becoming an Indonesian language high school teacher who forces his students to read and read and read. This idea comes from my own experience when I was taught Indonesian in high school, I thought the lesson is always banal, trite, and uninspiring. You never use your imagination, you're never asked to write a composition or a piece of opinion, and that's such a waste of time. I don't want future Indonesian leaders never read the feminist </span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1494305.Layar_Terkembang" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" title="Layar Terkembang by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana"><span style="color: red;">Layar Terkembang</span></a><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">or cry over the beautiful </span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1379444.Burung_Burung_Manyar" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" title="Burung-Burung Manyar by Y.B. Mangunwijaya"><span style="color: red;">Burung-Burung Manyar</span></a><span style="color: #181818;">.</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> I have even made my own curricula, where I will ask my students to compulsorily read one book each month, write what they think about the book, and discuss it in front of the class. Each year they will read at least twelve books: three classic Indonesian literatures, three modern Indonesian literatures, two young adult books, two translated books, one non-fiction book, and one book that they choose. I know, from the start, that John Steinbeck's </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of Mice and Men</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> will be one book that I must shove to my students' throat. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of Mice and Men</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> somehow reminds me of La La Land, if La La Land takes place in The Great Depression era, but both clearly emphasize the importance of having dream, that everyone has a right to dream even cheap laborers like George Milton and Lennie Small. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of Mice and Men</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> revolves around the life of these antithetical two main characters. George Milton is witty, smart, yet doesn't possess the physical strength that Lennie Small has. Lennie, on the other hand, is mentally disabled but physically strong. They both have a big dream of having their own land farm where they can tend their crops and livestocks, and Lennie, who has unhealthy obsession with fluffy things, can keep pet rabbits. They are on their way to the new farm after being banished by their previous boss because of Lennie's cluelessness. In the new farm, they meet Candy, a long-in-the-tooth handyman; Slim, the main driver of the mule team; Curley, the owner's pugnacious son; his wife, who is mistrusted by her husband; and Crooks, a cynical black stable-hand. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Each characters have their own dream, yet Steinbeck crudely kill each of it by reality and bitter truth. George and Lennie's dream of having their independence and homestead is barricaded by Candy's dubiousness and heartbreaking fate in the ending. Curley's wife's dream of becoming actress is stopped by her marriage with Curley and her own promiscuity. Unlike La La Land, where the characters' aspiration is coming true, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of Mice and Mean</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> bleakly proffers the truth that sometimes dreams never come true. George's idealism fades away, Lennie's innocence and naivety don't help him in this cruel world. In the end, dreams die. Steinbeck doesn't mask anything in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of Mice and Men</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, yet the book is rich in allegories. He writes without hiding anything, portraying the ugly truth of life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">It's important for my imaginary students to read </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of Mice and Men</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, to make them fully understand that dreams do die, but they mustn't forfeit their dream, unlike George and everyone else in the book. Dying dreams are realistic, but achieving dreams are much more realistic, and that hope is what my students must hold on to tread this river of life.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-42021312864801060242017-01-27T11:37:00.003+07:002017-01-27T11:43:50.488+07:00Scythe by Neal Shusterman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1456172676l/28954189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1456172676l/28954189.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Neal Shusterman</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Scythe</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Simon & Schuster</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">432 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8.2 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span id="freeText1751676960811703371" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;">A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.</span></span></span></div>
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<span id="freeText1751676960811703371">Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The last three books that I read all revolve around death and how the main characters deal with it, admitting that death always changes people's life. Death is often deemed as a villain, and killing the others is usually a form of crime, but surprisingly only </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A Prisoner of Birth</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> follows such motion. Both</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Shusterman" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Neal Shusterman's</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Scythe</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> glorify death as something sacrosanct, and killing people is something honorable. Both books also don't admit that what they do is killing. They call it "retiring" in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and "gleaning" in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Scythe</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, sounding even more noble. But, one thing remains the same. Death always changes people's life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On paper, <i>Scythe</i> looks great. A utopian world where people have stopped mortality where <i>nanites</i> are injected to their blood to speed-heal the wounds, and every dead people can be revived with a hi-tech machine. There's no famine, no war, no crime, no pollution, no corruption as now human beings are led by an extremely, uncorrupted AI, called Thunderhead. However, death is necessary, and the only thing that can bring death to human being is Scythe, some bunch of people that are allowed to kill other people, to bring the balance in this world. In this world, Scythe is feared, yet hailed at the same time. Scythe cannot be touched by Thunderhead, being the last human's prerogative. But, human is easily corrupted, and later this whole Scythe business becomes politics, filled with squalor and evilness. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe that neither of them wants--the first condition to be a scythe--by Scythe Faraday, one of the most respectable Scythes in Midmerica. But, being a Scythe is not only a matter of killing human, it's much more than that. And when the their threads of fate loose, their lives are changing, and consequently, one of their lives must be sacrificed. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Scythe</i>, in a way, bears some verisimilitude with Shusterman's magnum opus, Unwind. Both explore the meaning of a life of human being and what's their worth. The precious life that the main characters fight for in <i>Unwind</i>, that everyone deserves to live, and unwinding and erasing someone's existence from life is juxtaposed with the utopian condition in <i>Scythe</i>, where people no longer die, yet they still hold on their life so tightly. It's really interesting how both books have a lot of differences, but that creepy and shuddery feeling when I read the books stay, proving that the perfect life is actually a dystopia in life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have to be honest, <i>Sycthe</i> is really a page-turner, mainly because <i>Scythe</i> is full of mystery and intrigues. The main characters are also really likable, aside from their insta-romance, and the villain is hateable. It's rare to see black-white characters have interesting story to follow, but Shustermn does it perfectly. But, one thing that lacks from <i>Scythe</i> is the sense of thought-provoking that <i>Unwind</i> possesses. <i>Scythe</i> is great, of course, but it feels hollow. It's just an interesting story, without much left to learn, and the reason why I won't give much higher rating.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-63621846543744311062017-01-27T11:31:00.000+07:002017-01-27T11:31:13.367+07:00The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367177716l/7886338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367177716l/7886338.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ted Chiang</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Lifecycle of Software Objects </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Subterranean</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">150 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.5</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What's the best way to create artificial intelligence? In 1950, Alan Turing wrote, "Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English. This process could follow the normal teaching of a child. Things would be pointed out and named, etc. Again I do not know what the right answer is, but I think both approaches should be tried." </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The first approach has been tried many times in both science fiction and reality. In this new novella, at over 30,000 words, his longest work to date, Ted Chiang offers a detailed imagining of how the second approach might work within the contemporary landscape of startup companies, massively-multiplayer online gaming, and open-source software. It's a story of two people and the artificial intelligences they helped create, following them for more than a decade as they deal with the upgrades and obsolescence that are inevitable in the world of software. At the same time, it's an examination of the difference between processing power and intelligence, and of what it means to have a real relationship with an artificial entity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Review</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">There are two kinds of my favorite writer: one who can write beautifully and enthralls me with their handsomely crafted plot and one who can fascinate me with their grand idea and execute it perfectly. Ted Chiang belongs to the latter.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Of all his other opuses that I've read, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Lifecycle of Software Objects</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is probably the least hardcore. The concept, while it's still full of strange words, is somehow still understandable and easy to read. The story itself still offers speculative about artificial intelligence, in the form of cute pets called digients, and what it means to have a strong relationship with an AI, to question the position of AI in real world, and everything. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">While </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Lifecycle of Software Objects</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> doesn't have mindblowing twist, like</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Story of Your Life</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> or </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Hell is the Absence of God</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, it still has the philosophical atmosphere about the meaning of life-existence. The conflict is barely there, as Chiang writes the story more likely to provoke our mind to think about the fate of AI. When AI has gained the same intelligence with human being, and they can express their "feeling" and everything, will that make their status become human as well? What defines human being? What defines AI? If not, do we have a right to decide for AI? In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Lifecycle of Software Objects</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, we will be guided by two main characters who have invested their time in these digients, and who have formed such strong bonds with them, to answer these questions. Eventually, it leads to the ultimate question: is relationship with AI something real? </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818;">The story can be read legally</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></span><a href="http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2010/fiction_the_lifecycle_of_software_objects_by_ted_chiang/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-76864861933848319672017-01-08T09:41:00.002+07:002017-01-08T09:41:31.765+07:00Morning Star by Pierce Brown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pierce Brown</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Morning Star</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hodder & Stoughton</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">518 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9.8<span style="color: red;"> (Best Book)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Finally, the time has come.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Pierce Brown's conclusion of</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> Red Rising </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">trilogy</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, Morning Star, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">amplifies the qualities that makes the trilogy stunning: twisted plot, gut-wrenching bloody scene, and heart-stopping moments.</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piercebrownofficial/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Pierce Brown</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is definitely a fucking admirable bastard. With his extremely handsome look, he can just become a supermodel, being famous, getting rich and everything. Yet, he doesn't follow that route. He decides to be a writer and graces us with </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> trilogy, one of the best sci-fi series that I have ever read. Brown introduces us to Darrow of Lykos, the most cunning and brave main characters ever in the history of young adult, and this trilogy is Darrow's mini-bildungsroman which allows us to join Darrow in his epic battle to bring justice to the universe and see him growing with tears and blood. The main theme looks like being ripped-off from </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Sentai" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Super Sentai</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, but how Brown weaves the plot intricately is absolutely sublime and he does it consistently until the final book.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Brown admits that writing </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Morning Star</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is hard. Not because he doesn't know how to end this story, but because he's absolutely aware where and how this story ends, but he's not sure how to bring it to his readers. He cloistered himself, trying to find tranquility, away from his friends and family, but he's still stuck. It's when he realized that </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is a story of camaraderie and working alone won't help Brown finish it. What makes Darrow strong is the support and love of people who love and trust him. When I finish the book and understand what Brown has said, I cry. It's so fucking deep. It is true that Red Rising isn't a story about how an austere man rises to power by himself, but a story about how weak and ordinary man rises to power arduously with the help of his friends. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The whole trilogy probably has such high death-count that makes Martin's</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">A Song of Ice and Fire</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> look like a cute fairy tale. Each death is bloodydamn gory, starting from decapitated head until meat explosion. Yet, Brown writes it grotesquely, beautiful yet nauseating. He emphasizes the importance of each death; he keeps telling the significance of each character's death and how it affects Darrow who's pure at heart and dour at the same time. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">I don't know what I love the most about </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> or </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Morning Star</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> in particular. Is it the plot? </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, hands down, provides one of the most exhilarating and twisted plot ever. Is it the beautiful words that Brown use? Because Brown indeed can fucking write, and that is his quality that I covet the most. His chooses the scrupulously, and the three books of the trilogy possibly contain a quarter of Oxford Dictionaries entries. Yet, it doesn't feel pretentious, it just matches Darrow's intelligence. Or, is it because of the characters? I cannot believe how complex characters in this trilogy are. Even the villains or the tritagonists are given personality, that makes their motivation sensible, and it's a tough job. In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> each characters matter. Or, is it because of the intense journey toward the ending? A poignantly written ending, that perfectly wraps this epic journey. When I can finally put down the book, I breathe, not realizing that I hold my breath this whole time. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">I may not able to answer what's the best thing about </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. What I know is </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Red Rising</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> trilogy is a fucking masterpiece, one that rises every thousand years.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-27035665220872884232017-01-02T10:08:00.000+07:002017-01-02T10:08:12.925+07:00Teka-Teki Terakhir oleh Annisa Ihsani<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Annisa Ihsani</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gramedia Pustaka Utama</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">256 halaman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.9</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Gosipnya, suami-istri Maxwell penyihir. Ada juga yang bilang pasangan itu ilmuwan gila. Tidak sedikit yang mengatakan mereka keluarga ningrat yang melarikan diri ke Littlewood. Hanya itu yang Laura tahu tentang tetangganya tersebut.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Dia tidak pernah menyangka kenyataan tentang mereka lebih misterius daripada yang digosipkan. Di balik pintu rumah putih di Jalan Eddington, ada sekumpulan teka-teki logika, paradoks membingungkan tentang tukang cukur, dan obsesi terhadap pernyataan matematika yang belum terpecahkan selama lebih dari tiga abad. Terlebih lagi, Laura tidak pernah menyangka akan menjadi bagian dari semua itu.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Tahun 1992, Laura berusia dua belas tahun, dan teka-teki terakhir mengubah hidupnya selamanya...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Jika ada satu hal yang bisa saya banggakan dari kehidupan 22 tahun saya yang menyedihkan ini, itu adalah saya tidak bego matematika. Jika Ihsani mengatakan bahwa orang-orang dewasa biasanya akan berbasa-basi dengan mengatakan kalau mereka payah dalam matematika, saya dengan pongahnya akan mengatakan hal yang sebaliknya. Matematika adalah hal yang seru, menantang, dan cantik. Tapi, jujur saja, saya suka sekali dengan matematika dan di saat nilai mata kuliah saya yang lain awur-awuran, mata kuliah matematika sayalah yang menyelamatkan IP saya dari keterpurukan. Ketertarikan saya dari matematika mungkin dimulai dari SD ketika saya menyadari keajaiban dan keteraturan dari angka-angka tersebut. Siapa yang menyangka kita bisa menentukan apakah satu bilangan bisa dibagi tiga hanya dengan menjumlahkan digit-digit penyusunnya?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Ketertarikan saya akan matematika terus ada sampai kuliah--dan sampai sekarang tentu saja. Saat ada waktu luang, saya suka iseng-iseng mengerjakan </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">brain teaser</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> di </span><a href="https://brilliant.org/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">brilliant.org</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang adiktif--yang kemudian hanya mendapat cibiran dari masyarakat sekitar tentang bagaimana saya menghabiskan waktu luang. Tentu saja saya tidak bisa mengerjakan soal level 4-5 karena keterbatasan otak saya, tetapi ketika berhasil menyelesaikan satu problem, rasanya seperti habis terapi dan memuaskan. Saat kuliah pulalah saya mulai 'ngeh' dengan adanya beberapa problematika kehidupan yang belum terpecahkan di dalam matematika. Yang paling terkenal (dan susah karena bahkan saya sendiri juga enggak mengerti sebenarnya apa yang jadi masalah) adalah </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Prize_Problems" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Millennium Prize Problems</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang memuat tujuh problematika matematika di milenium ini yang belum terpecahkan. Sejauh ini hanya ada satu yang sudah dipecahkan. Saat itu pulalah saya juga membaca soal Teorema Terakhir Fermat. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Kalau ada orang </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">randomly</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> datang ke saya dan menyuruh saya membuat cerita dengan ide pokok Teorema Terakhir Fermat, saya akan langsung membuat cerita sains fiksi yang canggih yang mbulet seperti dinasti kepemimpinan Kabupaten Klaten atau seperti cerpen soal </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">domestic drama</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">yang dibumbui dengan kehidupan matematikawati yang stres karena ia berhasil membuktikan kalau 1=2 macam </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Division by Zero</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> karya </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1557991004?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Ted Chiang</span></a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">(yang, omong-omong harus kalian baca). Tidak pernah terbayangkan kalau Teorema Terakhir Fermat bisa diangkat menjadi cerita </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">young adult</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang menarik dan menggugah, tetapi masih bisa dicerna untuk anak-anak</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">middle grade</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. Untuk itu, saya angkat topi untuk Ihsani. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, karya debut </span><a href="https://twitter.com/nisaihsani" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Ihsani</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> sangat berbeda dengan karyanya yang pertama kali saya baca </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1589947513?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: red;">A Untuk Amanda</span></i></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">--yang juga masuk ke dalam salah satu </span><a href="http://reviewbukudaniel.blogspot.co.id/2016/12/top-10-books-i-read-in-2016.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">buku favorit saya tahun lalu</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> karena sasaran usia pembacanya meski keduanya sama-sama cerdas dan bergizi. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">A Untuk Amanda</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> juga cenderung gelap, sementara </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> lebih ringan dan cerah, seperti cahaya </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">crepuscular</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> yang menelusup dari awan di langit. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Bercerita soal Laura Welman, seorang gadis kecil berusia 12 tahun, yang membuang kertas ulangan matematikanya yang bernilai nol di depan rumah besar milik pasangan misterius Maxwell. Sejak saat itulah, ia mulai berkenalan dengan pasangan suami istri Maxwell yang ternyata seorang ahli matematika dan di sana ia menemukan serunya matematika dan rahasia suami istri Maxwell yang perlahan terkuak, termasuk pergumulan James Maxwell dengan Teorema Terakhir Fermat selama empat puluh tahun.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Mengambil latar tahun 1992, beberapa tahun sebelum Teorema Terakhir Fermat dibuktikan, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> terasa seperti cerita yang autentik, membuktikan bahwa ada sisi lain dari peristiwa sejarah dan ini hal yang baru dalam dunia </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">young adult</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> dalam negeri ini. Bahwa di balik kesuksesan orang lain, ada kegagalan orang lain pula. Tapi, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">mengajarkan bahwa kegagalan juga merupakan bagian hidup yang harus diterima dan setelah kita belajar menerima kegagalan, dan berusaha untuk mengatasinya, itulah hal yang paling penting. Bagaimana sebuah buku yang ditujukan untuk bocah-bocah SMP masih relevan dengan kehidupan orang dewasa benar-benar di luar nalar saya.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Dan bukan itu saja yang mengejutkan dari </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> karena sekali lagi Ihsani menyelipkan isu-isu dan pemikiran sensitif, seperti agnotisme di </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">A Untuk Amanda</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. Kali ini ia menyinggung </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">how to handle death</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> dan kehidupan setelah kematian itu sendiri. Perkara apakah kehidupan setelah kematian itu ada atau tidak tidaklah penting, karena yang paling penting bagaimana kita meninggalkan </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">legacy</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> di dunia ini. Menarik sekali memahami pikiran anak dua belas tahun lebih dewasa daripada kita-kita ini. Selain dua isu itu, buku ini juga mengajarkan arti persahabatan, persaudaraan, dan hal-hal penting lainnya yang diperlukan para remaja muda. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Meski demikian, meski </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> tetap mengagumkan, saya merasa jalinan plotnya kurang terikat dengan baik, seperti jilidan buku dengan beberapa halaman yang lepas. Saya tidak bisa menunjukkan bagian yang mana, tetapi saya menduga ini salah satu sebabnya kenapa saya tidak menikmati </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> sama seperti saya menikmati </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">A Untuk Amanda</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Tapi, tetap saja </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Teka-Teki Terakhir</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> adalah sebuah karya yang impresif, dan mengingat jarangnya buku remaja yang mengangkat tema-tema penting dan unik di negeri ini, karya-karya Ihsani rasanya selalu wajib untuk dinanti.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-26676613641538066072016-12-26T21:09:00.002+07:002017-01-04T22:05:31.027+07:00Top 10 Books I Read in 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This year brings the <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://landofpretentiousness.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/100-best-songs-of-2016/">best in music department</a></span> as I listened to 24,135 songs this year according to my last.fm. I just purchased a Play Station 4, and have finished 3 games so far, each game takes around 60 hours to complete. And I watched movies and TV series a lot this year. So, when I'm just only able to finish 69 books this years, 6 books shy from last year's accomplishment, I am not proud. I remember at the beginning of the year that my resolution is to start to read heavier books this year, like the humongous <i>Infinite Jest</i>, for instance, or Tolstoy's <i>War & Peace</i>, but I never find the courage. I cheat and read <i>The Little Prince</i>, instead. In my defense, <i>The Little Prince</i> may not look like an austere book, but it's arguably a heavy book. Well, even so I don't read many books this year, I'm still able to find some treasure and I will summarize some of books that I enjoy this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">10. "The Light Between Oceans" - M. L. Stedman</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stedman's <i>The Light Between Oceans </i> is the ultimate love story between a mother and a child, a wife and a husband, a family. Set in the Australian shore at the beginning of the 20th century, <i>The Light Between Oceans</i> is just too painful, it's like a serrated knife that stabs and twists my guts. People's opinion of the book may be polarized: <span style="background-color: white;">some people praise for Stedman's knack for her kaleidoscopic description--so colorful, beautiful, and rich in building Australia setting at the beginning of the 20th century, while some others criticize her book for unbearable characters and the illogical decision they all make, but for me <i>The Light Between Oceans</i> efficaciously proves that there's still sincereness in this old cold world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">9.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> "A Untuk Amanda" - Annisa Ihsani</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A stands for Amazing, and that's what <i>A Untuk Amanda</i> is. An Indonesian young-adult book that talks about things that actually matter for juvenile and provides the real solution to the problem. Set in an idyllic constructed world that bears some verisimilitude with Indonesia, <i>A Untuk Amanda</i> is a guide for young teenagers who suffer from depression. Our people may ignore the fact that depression or mental disorder is something real, but reading <i>A Untuk Amanda</i> is an eye-opening and epiphanous experience. And a nice mention of teenage's spirituality is like cherry on top, establishing <i>A Untuk Amanda</i> as one of the best Indonesian young adult-books. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8. "The Hithchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - Douglas Adams</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Douglas Adams' <i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i> or H2G2 may look like a parody, and that's true, but it's a classic one. Who would've thought that the answer to everything is 42? The meaning of life? It's 42. Why people blush? It's 42. Is there any God? It's 42. It's first published in 1970s, along with the human being's sudden awe to the firmament above, as proven by the release of Alien, Star Wars, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, magically H2G2 never seems to be obsolete, it's still relevant until today. And as people and the smartest human being on earth still haven't been able to crack the code of the universe, H2G2 is the closest that we can get to answer these incessant questions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7. "Symptoms of Being Human" - Jeff Garvin</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thank God Indonesian language does not acknowledge the gender in pronoun, it will strike off one of gender fluid's millions of problems. It's not easy to live in world where binary is the norm. You are either boy or girl, you are either team Katy Perry or team Taylor Swift, you are either black or white. The world is much more colorful place, like a kaleidoscope, and gender is no exception. Written by a cis-man, <i>Symptoms of Being Human</i> somehow accurately portrays the strive of a gender-fluid living in this binary world. As Garvin tries to open people's mind that gender fluid is not a disease, is not a made-up word, or not a conspiracy. It's real, it's true, and it's completely humane. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6. "Jellicoe Road" - Melina Marchetta </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Marchetta is a queen of young adult book, and <i>Jellicoe Road</i> paves her way to the throne. With "Jellicoe Road", she reminds adult people that being a<span style="background-color: white;"> teenager can be hard because teenagers still search who they really are, they still search their real self, and it's a hard phase. Teenagers are vagabonds, looking the meaning of their real life. All of these messages, embodied in Taylor Markham, are conveyed with feelings and emotions. It's as if Marchetta's characters were all real and breathing and alive. I've never felt this way when I read a young-adult book. Reading "Jellicoe Road" is an emotional journey.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">5. "Monsters of Men" - Patrick Ness</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ness is fucking with all of us by publishing <i>Monsters of Men</i>, concluding one of the best young-adult trilogies of all time. As a god of his characters, he absolutely can end the book with simple happy ending, but he knows his readers will never think if it ends happily. They will never ponder that life with a happy ending is a rare occurrence, and mostly life throws us shit. <i>Monsters of Men</i> defies young adult's cliche, proving what amazing young adult book is capable of. The <i>Chaos Walking</i> trilogy is designed to make you keep thinking and keep thinking, a quality that even adult books sometimes fail to have. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">4. "Me Before You" - Jojo Moyes</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Jojo Moyes' <i>Me Before You</i> is a rare case where a chick-lit book can make me laugh and bawl at the same time. Saying that there are those goddamn ninjas cutting onion when I put this book down may sound like the epitome of cliche, but <i>Me Before You</i> is indeed wonderful. I will never think that the book that's full of persiflage and ridiculous moments hides something dark and despondent. Euthanasia, a favorite topic in English debate, a choice to end our life. The idea of ending your life may seem frivolous for most of people, but when nothing is able to hold you, even when you finally find the love of your life, will you still be able to live? Beneath the jocular scenes in <i>Me Before You</i>, Moyes elaborates that the choice of life and death is actually justifiable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. "11.22.63" - Stephen King</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My biggest mistake this year is not finishing Stephen King's <i>11.22.63</i> as soon as possible right away after I bought it two years ago. But, towering for more than 10 cm--never trust the book that has thickness more than 10 cm--<i>11.22.63</i> can be daunting. Not to mention how minuscule the fonts in the book are. However, as I toughened up and start turning the pages, my jaw drops. It's really good. It may be a typical time-travel fairy tale, but when King, a king of story teller himself, mixes it with the history of JFK assassination, giving another side of the story from that tragedy, it all becomes amazing. And before I realize, I begin to sympathize with the main character and care so much about him. When the book ends, I' had a hangover, a sign that I just finished a masterpiece. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. "All The Light We Cannot See" - Anthony Doerr</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What part of Doerr's <i>All The Light We Cannot See</i> that doesn't scream, "Please adapt me to a film! I will bring you Oscars and fame!"? There's something between World War II and the Academy that we never understand, but while it's true that <i>All The Light We Cannot See</i> is set in World War II, it shows us the tranquil side of the war, if that's ever possible. While other WWII stories are filled with cacophonous boom and ricochet and wail, <i>All The Light We Cannot See</i> tends to be quieter. You can still hear the war machine faintly moaning on the background, but the focus of <i>All the Light We Cannot See</i> is innocent boy and girl and the family love and how Doerr writes in such ravishing way, whetting all of your five senses. You can smell the ocean, you can touch the sand, you can hear the war, you can taste the salty air, you can see everything that happens. It's just simply astonishing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. "Story of Your Life" - Ted Chiang</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To say that Chiang's <i>Story of Your Life </i>is a book is exactly like saying Lady Gaga is still a relevant singer these days. At just 39 pages, <i>Story of Your Life</i> is just a short story, but when you don't need hundred of pages to deliver an amazing story, that's where your talent is showcased, and Chiang has proven it with his oeuvres. Nothing prepares me for <i>Story of Your Life</i>, and when I finished reading it, I was blown away. <i>Story of Your Life </i>breaks all alien invasion tropes through, written from a linguist's point of view who is appointed to translate the alien's language. It is hardcore, it is confusing, but it's because our small brain cannot recognize the invisible thread that binds this story together. It all makes sense in the ending, and your head explodes. It's fortunate (or unfortunate) that Chiang is not a prolific writer. If that's the case, there may be thousands of headless people by now. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-66161842465728799722016-11-26T08:02:00.003+07:002016-11-26T08:02:35.445+07:00We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shaun David Hutchinson</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Simon Pulse</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">455 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.9</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are a few things Henry Denton knows, and a few things he doesn’t.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Henry knows that his mom is struggling to keep the family together, and coping by chain-smoking cigarettes. He knows that his older brother is a college dropout with a pregnant girlfriend. He knows that he is slowly losing his grandmother to Alzheimer’s. And he knows that his boyfriend committed suicide last year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What Henry doesn’t know is why the aliens chose to abduct him when he was thirteen, and he doesn’t know why they continue to steal him from his bed and take him aboard their ship. He doesn’t know why the world is going to end or why the aliens have offered him the opportunity to avert the impending disaster by pressing a big red button. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But they have. And they’ve only given him 144 days to make up his mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The question is whether Henry thinks the world is worth saving. That is, until he meets Diego Vega, an artist with a secret past who forces Henry to question his beliefs, his place in the universe, and whether any of it really matters. But before Henry can save the world, he’s got to figure out how to save himself, and the aliens haven’t given him a button for that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">"We're all gonna die," Sufjan Stevens croons in </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTeKpWp8Psw" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; text-align: left;">"Fourth of July"</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. The song is actually talking about Stevens' mother who was in her deathbed. As they converse alternately in each stanza, they're talking about what living this life actually means. While the song is initially used as a peace truce between Stevens and her mother, "Fourth of July" is also a </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">memento mori</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, a reminder that no matter how austere we are, we always surrender to death. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For Henry Denton, his memento mori is the aliens--which he calls sluggers--who abduct him and show him that world ends at January 29th, 2016. The date is so specific, the apocalypse is crystal clear. As he watches the earth explode and burn, he's given choice by the alien to press a red button or not. Contrary to <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/daily-struggle" rel="nofollow" style="color: #00635d;">popular meme</a>, pressing the red button means saving the world for good. It should be an easy choice, but it's not for Henry Denton. His boyfriend just committed suicide, while his biggest bully is also a closeted guy who makes out with him, he breaks his friendship, his family struggles after his father left, and his grandmother's memory starts to crumble. It seems like that there's nothing good left for him in this world thus no reason to save the world. After all, we're all gonna die. Unluckily, the aliens give him three months to decide, but three months won't change anything, right? However, when Diego comes into his life, Henry starts to question whether his life is worth living for. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It looks really interesting on paper. At least from the blurb that I read, at least I believe I know what to expect from the book: an eschatologic sci-fi young adult novel. So, it's a normal thing that I expect I will get a lot of "alien and sci-fi". In fact, aside from the astronomical trivia (which is really nice to read, i have to admit), the alien is just used as a plot device that has no impact whatsoever to the plot. I mean, if you remove the alien part of the book, you can still get the same story. It seems like Hutchinson still tries to grasp what he wants to do with this book as proven by how many times he changes the concept of the book. But, Hutchinson definitely can write, I give you that. How he's able to capture the pain that a teenager must go through, how he describes things that Henry feels and sees, they're all bull's eye, and it's easy to imagine what kind of life Henry must live through every day. The atmosphere of the book is kind of bleak, but you can feel joy creeps in some of the pages, like crepuscular rays, before ending it with a vague, but sweet one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>We Are the Ants</i> may be too vulgar for some people, but it is one good addition to the gay-lit young adult book that talks about the meaning of life.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-87784983744059614122016-11-26T07:42:00.005+07:002016-11-26T07:42:49.721+07:00This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Victoria Schwab</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"This Savage Song"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Greenwillow</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">464 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.1</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">In </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/www.victoriaschwab.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Schwab</span></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/www.victoriaschwab.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; text-align: left;">'s</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> universe, there's no right or wrong, there's no bad or good. Even the good people have a monster inside of them, and how Schwab is able to pull and twist the real character of human being without any struggle is clearly shown in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">This Savage Song</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, the latest effort from Schwab.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Kate & August, the main characters of the book, may bear no resemblance at the surface. Kate, the daughter of Verity's north side's crime-lord, only wants to be loved by his father and wants to prove that she deserves her father's recognition, that's she's as ruthless and vile as her father can be. Meanwhile, August, a monster himself, hates himself, and longs to be human. But as a monster and the step-son of south side's leader who's trying to maintain the peace in monster-infested city of Verity, it's hard to maintain your humanity. When he's sent to the same school with Kate to spy on her, he's surprised to see how similar their condition is, he begins to develop some friendship with Kate, while hiding his identity as a monster. But as the chaos erupts and some monsters try to assassinate Kate, they begin their journey together and find out what really happens and what makes human human.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">As you can expect from Schwab's work, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">This Savage Song</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> proffers twisted plot and complicated story, much like her </span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13638125.Vicious__Vicious___1_" title="Vicious (Vicious, #1) by V.E. Schwab"><span style="color: red;">Vicious</span></a><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">This Savage Song sets different dark tone and nuance, and that's like a breath of fresh air in the young adult books department. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Once again, Schwab's book works, and as </span><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bookmark/savage-song-movie-film-rights-913302" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Sony has bought the movie license</span></a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #181818;">for </span></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">This Savage Song</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> we may be able to see this great book visually sooner than you think.</span></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-78260308420877938662016-10-22T22:45:00.003+07:002016-10-22T23:10:30.100+07:00The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rick Riordan</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Hammer of Thor</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Disney Hyperion</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">480 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7.5</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">After writing more than 15 books about Greek, Roman, Egypt and Nordic demigods, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/rickriordan.com" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Riordan</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> becomes predictable. Part of it is not his fault, especially considering how actually closely those mythologies are related. The main gods may bear different names, but some of their tales share similar quiddity and key-point, and while Riordan who's a little more creative than, let's say, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_Clare" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Cassandra Clare</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> (as he writes in different mythology and "world" and researches more), it has become hard for him to freshen the demigods' plot. It's clearly depicted in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hammer of Thor</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hammer of Thor</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is indeed still blessed with entertainment. The plot, although it's been recycled, still feels exhilarating, the characters still make stupid mistakes as if they had not learned from Percy Jackson and his comrades, and Norse myth, the quirkiest myth of all, is still fascinating. In this second book, Magnus and his friends try to locate the hammer of Thor to save Midgard, the regular human's world, from the infestation of giants. At the same time, they also try to rescind Loki's evil proposal and Loki's ultimate evil plan. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The plot of Riordan's books usually consists of two-three small quests, that are honestly not too necessary, to show some minor characters and fight them to get some key items (</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Hey, it's rhyme</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">) before finally the heroes get to fight the ultimate battle in the end of the books. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hammer of Thor</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is no different, as our characters move from world to world just to get some items. When you think about it, you will begin to realize that all of this journey is useless </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">if</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> the experienced characters, e.g. Sam, just say what's necessary so that their journey becomes more effective. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Albeit unoriginal, Riordan, however, manages to tackle the diversity issues as he introduces one gender-fluid characters and tries to unveil the Muslim background of Sam, the valkyrie and the duality of her life that seems paradoxical. In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Hammer of Thor</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, Riordan explains what actually gender-fluid really means in the way that's briefer than Garvin's </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The Symptoms of Being Human</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, but adequate, to expand the mind of his readers. He also unveils the religious side of Sam, describing how Muslim prayers work from the eyes of Magnus, and boldly states that both religion and mythology can live harmoniously. It itself can be considered blasphemous in this country, but surely Riordan just means to open his readers' eyes that there are different cultures, religions, races, sexualities out there, that the world isn't a homogeneous place, but it's vastly heterogeneous. It's the important message that Riordan tries to convey here.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-53301955204283889872016-10-07T07:21:00.003+07:002016-10-07T07:22:45.620+07:00Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Little Brown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">327 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6.7</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: left;">It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: left;">While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The eighth installment of the most successful series ever</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">isn't as magical as its predecessors, lacking in wonderful worldbuilding of Rowling and offering nothing but fanservice. Nevertheless, this eighth installment sates people's appetency for the next The Boy Who Lived's newest adventure, and reading this book indeed brings that sense of nostalgia and transports us back to the wonderful world where we all laugh, cry, and fight with Harry Potter.</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is basically pointless. It's as wasting paper as, let's say, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1644123407?book_show_action=false" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: red;">Underground</span></i></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. Both books can be deemed comparable, to be honest. Both come from great writers with gigantic fanbase, and in their respective mentioned books, they're not at the fullest. While </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underground</i><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> is probably nonredeemable, </span></span></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> is still Harry Potter, and no matter how messy it becomes, there's something that's still enjoyable from reading the spawn of Harry Potter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Not trying to disregard that a play script isn't as splendiferous as the novel version, but when Rowling announced that she will continue the Harry Potter, the anticipation bar has been set really high. It is interesting to see Harry Potter in form of a play script as we can see the world of Harry Potter in a conciser way, but let's just admit it, we all miss the incredulous amount of details that Rowling puts in his works, how his characters look, how descriptive Hogwarts is that we always keep thinking that Hogwarts is a real place. Publishing the script isn't a wrong thing to do, absolutely, but let's just admit that we all wish that Rowling somehow does more work by rewriting in much fuller form. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">That being said, the fact that </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Harry Potter and the Cursed Child </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">gives us such nostalgic feeling is undeniable. Started right off from the ending of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> in Platform 9 3/4, Rowling passes the baton from Harry Potter, the boy who lived, to his second son, Albus Potter, the cursed child. We continue to see Albus' struggle when he's put in Slytherin by Sorting Hat, and his constant worry and annoyance of not fully living in his Dad's standard. Hogwarts isn't as great and magnificent as what his Dad describes and he's got Scorpius Malfoy, of all people in the world, to be his only best friend. Rowling fertilizes their friendship and it blooms. Albus and Scorpius' friendship is probably the sweetest and the tenderest friendship in the world more than anything. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">The conflict starts when Harry find there's one remaining Time-Turner, and he doesn't know how to care and love Albus, until he says something that he's not supposed to say. Discombobulated by his father's words, Albus decides to run away with Scorpius (with Carly Rae Jepsen's</span><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeccAtqd5K8" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">"Run Away With Me"</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> faintly heard from the background) from Hogwarts Express and meets someone who can assist him in changing the fact that he's Harry Potter's child. The story continues in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Butterfly_Effect" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">The Butterfly Effect-esque</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> fashion, as Albus and Scorpius try to change the past and the future turns out to be completely different. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: left;">The plot looks cliche, indeed, and we all wish there's something more from Rowling. But, that's pretty much it. It won't satisfy your hungers of more Potter stories, but at least it will sate some of it, and at least, it's canon. The Dramione shipping ship may rejoice in the book, as both of them will interact more and Draco slips a kind remark that makes Hermione's (and definitely yours) stomach flutter. Scorpius and Albus' bromance makes you swoon so hard that you can't stop shipping both of them. You will see Harry and Ginny as parents. You will relive the days from Triwizard Tournament. You will relive the day that starts it all when Voldemort tries to kill Harry Potter. You will keep smiling while reading it and you will whisper, "I'm with you all guys, please stay strong" to these characters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> may not be as superior as the previous installments, but it still has some magic left to transport us back to the world of Harry Potter and once again it allows us to laugh, cry, and fight alongside Harry Potter. Harry Potter's world may not be idyllic, but as long as we go through with all of our best friends who love us, there's nothing that cannot be conquered. Once again, Rowling proves the power of friendship, and that makes her a maven in that department.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-76164601800716861452016-10-04T06:47:00.001+07:002016-10-04T06:49:50.432+07:00Blogtour + Giveaway: Ninevelove<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://ecs7.tokopedia.net/img/cache/300/product-1/2016/8/25/1770134/1770134_de8cdfeb-8b46-4143-b446-3c2e28bf9ecb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://ecs7.tokopedia.net/img/cache/300/product-1/2016/8/25/1770134/1770134_de8cdfeb-8b46-4143-b446-3c2e28bf9ecb.jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">J.S. Khairen</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ninevelove</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Gramedia Pustaka Utama</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">344 halaman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7.0</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Jika cinta bisa tumbuh tanpa alasan, bisakah kebencian juga lahir tanpa alasan? Karena kebencianku padanya sudah bulat dan berkeping-keping bahkan sebelum aku mengenalnya.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Aku tak tahu kenapa laki-laki berbadan kurus ceking itu tak pernah membuat hidupku tenang. Selalu ada saja ejekan dan celaan yang membuat gundukan kebencianku semakin tinggi dan siap meletus kapan pun ia mau. Ya, Joven Sayoeti Chaniago—wartawan junior Majalah Cakrawala sekaligus rekanku di Tinta Kampus—seakan tak rela melihatku bahagia dengan senyum mengembang di pipi.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Aku pun merawat dengan baik kebencian itu. Menyiramnya dengan ledekan juga tawa puasnya, agar suatu hari nanti aku bisa membalasnya. Namun, saat pohon kebencian itu tumbuh dan berbuah, aku benar-benar tercengang. Tak kudapati bara di dalamnya. Hanya candu yang membuat aku terikat, hingga aku tak bisa melepaskan diri darinya.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Kehidupan berorganisasi saat sedang berkuliah memang menyenangkan ketika kita semua bisa bebas beropini dan mengemukakan pendapat dan ide yang keren dan idealis, tanpa takut apa pun karena perlindungan tembok kampus. Meskipun saya kuliah di institut teknik, terkadang saya terkejut dengan pemikiran-pemikiran anak teknik yang ternyata terkadang masih peduli (itu mungkin juga karena adanya anak seni nan <i>kunst</i> yang memiliki pola pikir yang begitu luar biasa) dengan urusan nonakademis. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saya sendiri sewaktu kuliah ikut radio kampus dan, </span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">boy I assure you</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, meskipun kelihatan seperti sekumpulan pelawak, orang-orang radio ternyata sangat kritis dan peka terhadap isu-isu kampus dan terkini. Ketika sekarang saya bekerja di bidang <a href="http://www.groupm.com/">media (agensi wkwk)</a>, saya teringat perkataan teman saya dari Filipina, "<i>We're working from the powerful side of the world</i>." Saya mengamininya. <i>Media is indeed powerful</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mungkin itu juga yang dirasakan oleh Dewi, Guruh, Joven, dan Dinda, keempatnya anggota Tinta Kampus, organisasi jurnalistik di fakultas mereka. Menyadari bahwa media adalah sesuatu yang <i>powerful </i>membuat Tinta Kampus sendiri terkesan menjadi organisasi yang serius. Tapi apalah organisasi serius jika mahasiswa adalah penggeraknya, pasti akan hal-hal konyol yang terjadi. Dan itu juga yang terjadi di Tinta Kampus dalam <i>Ninevelove, </i>karya <a href="http://www.jskhairen.com/">J.S. Khairen</a>, yang sebelumnya sempat membukukan kisah perjalanan mahasiswa Rhenald Khasali dalam buku <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23293188-30-paspor-di-kelas-sang-profesor---buku-1"><i>30 Paspor di Kelas Sang Profesor</i></a>. Tentu tidak mengherankan ketika Khairen menyelipkan perintah Rhenald Khasali untuk pergi ke luar negeri bagi para mahasiswanya di <i>Ninevelove </i>ini. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tapi membaca <i>Ninevelove</i> terasa seperti nostalgia bagi para orang yang sudah lulus dari dunia perkuliahan dan juga menjawab mimpi-mimpi orang yang membayangkan bagaimana kehidupan perkuliahan. Melalui adegan-adegan di Tinta Kampus, saya tiba-tiba saja merindukan kehidupan saya di radio kampus dulu yang luar biasa menyenangkan. Saya juga rindu kehidupan akademis kampus, yang meskipun melelahkan, tetapi tidak semelelahkan kehidupan nyata. Meskipun saya tidak merindukan kehidupan asmara (<i>because I don't have any, zero, nada, zilch</i>), <i>Ninevelove</i> memberikan gambaran yang tepat ketika kehidupan asmara di kampus mungkin masih sedikit kekanak-kanakan yang masih dibawa saat SMA, tetapi sudah mengarah menuju kedewasaan. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ditulis dari empat sudut pandang para karakter tokoh utamanya, <i>Ninevelove</i> membuat kita lebih mudah merasakan apa yang karakter-karakter tersebut rasakan, tetapi itu jugalah yang membuat <i>character development</i> di <i>Ninevelove</i> kurang terbangun dengan baik, ketika perasaan mereka dengan mudah berubah di <i>chapter </i>yang lain tanpa adanya <i>turning point</i> yang drastis. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Membaca </span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ninevelove</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> ini juga terasa seperti membaca kehidupan pribadi Khairen, karena saya bisa merasakan begitu dekatnya dunia </span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ninevelove</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> ini dengan dunia nyata sang penulis yang seorang mahasiswa jurusan ekonomi, suka naik gunung, dan menulis. Ketika para karakternya juga pergi ke Sumatra Barat, saya juga merasakan betapa akrabnya Khairen dengan lingkungan Sumatra Barat. Tentu saja menulis dari pengalaman yang paling dekat dengan kita membuat menulis itu menjadi lebih gampang dan personal, dan Khairen sudah membuktikan itu.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Giveaway Time!!</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yeay, sekarang ada satu eksemplar dari <i>Ninevelove</i> buat kamu yang beruntung. Caranya gampang banget! </span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kamu mempunyai alamat di Indonesia yah. Jangan di luar negeri. Kalau kebetulan di luar negeri, kasih alamat di Indonesia saja. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Follow akun Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/JS_Khairen">@JS_Khairen</a> dan <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Gramedia">@Gramedia</a> (wajib) dan blog ini (opsional).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Share link giveaway blog ini ke media sosial kamu, boleh di Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/Line biar semakin banyak orang yang tahu. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Giveaway berlangsung sampai tanggal 6 Oktober 2016 tengah malam teng-teng. </span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nah, untuk mendapatkan buku <i>Ninevelove </i>ini kamu cukup menjawab satu pertanyaan saja:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Waktu SMA/kuliah, ekskul/unit kegiatan apa yang kamu ikuti? Apa yang paling berkesan dari ekskul/unit kegiatan yang kamu ikuti?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tulis jawaban kamu di kolom komentar, beserta nama, link yang kamu gunakan untuk ngeshare giveaway ini, dan tentu saja jawaban kamu. Saya tunggu sampai 6 Oktober 2016 ya. Semoga beruntung! </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-74686064520331511922016-09-17T20:24:00.000+07:002016-09-17T20:26:33.722+07:00Underneath the Stars oleh D. Wijaya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">D. Wijaya</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Underneath the Stars</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">nulisbuku</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">322 halaman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8.0</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Drew Olson tidak punya teman. Ia bukannya antisosial. Ia cuma merasa tidak pantas berada di lingkaran mana pun karena sementara orang lain punya banyak hal yang bisa dibagi, semua yang ia punya hanyalah mimpi-mimpi buruk.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Ketika Drew memutuskan untuk pergi ke sekolah asrama Walters (untuk memperbaiki kehidupan sosialnya yang mengenaskan), ia tidak mengira akan bertemu dengan Noah Mitchell yang menurutnya sedikit terlalu optimistis. Noah mengajak Drew untuk melihat dunia dengan cara yang berbeda. Noah juga memberinya pelajaran berharga: bahwa menjadi bahagia adalah pilihan.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Namun, saat Drew mulai memilih untuk bahagia, ketakutan terbesarnya sekonyong-konyong merapat dan menghantuinya. Mimpi buruknya datang bahkan saat ia terbangun. Dunianya perlahan-lahan tenggelam ketika orang-orang mulai menyadari luka apa yang ia coba sembunyikan selama ini.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Dan sementara ia tenggelam semakin dalam, Drew mulai bertanya-tanya, akankah ia merasa bahagia lagi?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Sama seperti karya seni, buku yang bagus seharusnya membuat pembacanya merasakan sesuatu. Bukan perasaan ngamuk-ngamuk ketika pembaca mengomel, "Ini kenapa jalan ceritanya seperti ini, sih?", tetapi lebih ke perasaan yang timbul saat ia tenggelam ke dalam jalan cerita yang dibuat dan mampu merasakan apa yang para karakternya rasakan. Saat karakternya marah, pembaca juga sanggup merasakan kemarahan; saat karakternya sedih, pembaca juga mampu merasakan apa yang karakternya. Sama seperti yang </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/twitter.com/authorde" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Wijaya</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> lakukan di </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1310778283?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: red;">Above the Stars</span></em></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, karya terbarunya yang diterbitkan secara independen di </span><a href="http://nulisbuku.com/books/view_book/8843/underneath-the-stars" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">nulisbuku</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> ini juga sanggup membuat pembacanya merasakan apa yang karakter-karakternya alami--hanya dengan intensitas yang jauh lebih dahsyat. Dan itu, tentu saja, bukan kemampuan yang mudah. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Namun, Wijaya menuliskannya seakan-akan tanpa usaha sejak halaman pertama ia mengenalkan karakter Drew Olson, seorang remaja tujuh belas tahun, asosial, penyendiri dan tak punya teman. Ketika ia disuruh oleh paman dan bibinya untuk pindah ke asrama agar terpapar dengan lebih banyak manusia, Drew mengalah hanya untuk membuat keduanya bungkam. Namun, saat ia bertemu dengan Ethan, teman sekamarnya, yang sangat nyeleneh dan teman-temannya, Drew mulai membuka dirinya. Hingga Noah Mitchell datang, dan Drew Olson tiba-tiba harus menghadapi semua ketakutan dan rahasia tergelapnya sendirian. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Di tengah-tengah karakter yang jago melawak, Drew terasa seperti seorang </span><em style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StraightMan" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">straight man</span></a><span style="color: #00635d;"> </span></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">yang <i>gay</i>--</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">sorry, no pun intended</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">--yang berusaha keras menjaga kewarasannya di tengah-tengah karakter yang sinting. Paman dan Bibi yang kekanak-kanakan dan suka mempertaruhkan keputusan hidup Drew, Ethan yang suka memakai piama ke kelas, Noah yang memiliki stok optimisme yang berlebihan saat pembagian jatah optimisme di surga, dan Kelly yang mungkin ketinggalan saat pembagian optimisme. Karakter-karakter dalam </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> terasa hidup, nyata, dan lucu. Saya tak akan terkejut jika suatu saat nanti saya akan melihat serial televisi dengan karakter-karakter ini, dan saya akan menyenangkan seperti ini, tipe karakter yang keluar dari buku-buku john Green, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">quirky</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> dan eksentrik. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Dan bicara soal John Green, tidak bisa dimungkiri membaca </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> mengingatkan akan mahakarya terbaik John Green, </span><em style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/520405276?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Looking For Alaska</span></a><span style="color: #00635d;"> </span></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">(</span><em style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818;">bye </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/500845830?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1"><span style="color: red;">The Fault in Our Stars</span></a></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">). Atmosfer keduanya beresonansi, mulai dari kedatangan di asrama baru, kejailan-kejailan yang dilakukan oleh Drew dan Miles bersama dengan teman-teman mereka, atmosfer cerita yang perlahan-lahan berubah menjadi </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">portentous</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> di akhir cerita, hingga mungkin sampai ke konflik klimaksnya. Bukan hal yang buruk, tentu saja, dan meskipun </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Looking For Alaska</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> adalah buku john Green yang paling saya sukai, ketika saya membuka lembar demi lembar dari </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, saya mulai merasakan keduanya sedikit berbeda. Selain tentu saja ini kisah</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">gay</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> romantis, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> juga mengangkat tema yang jauh lebih gelap. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Kalimat-kalimat yang Wijaya tulis terasa indah dan deskriptif, dialog-dialog karakternya </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">whitty</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, dan terasa sangat terjemahan. Latar ceritanya yang cukup kuat, meskipun sekolah-sekolah Amerika, baik </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">boarding </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">maupun tidak, jarang sekali yang mempunyai jadwal pelajaran setiap seminggu sekali (kebanyakan jadwal mereka sama setiap hari sepanjang semester, atau dengan menggunakan sistem dua-hari-sekali), membuat </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> terasa sangat realistis, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">and it's not an easy feat</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> barangkali ditulis sebelum </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Above the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, tetapi </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Underneath the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> jauh lebih emosional daripada Above the Stars, bukti bahwa Wijaya terus berkembang. Dan karena sekarang sudah terlampau nanggung, bisakah kita mendapat </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Between the Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> sebagai pamungkas dari seri </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Stars</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> ini? </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Please</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">?</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-34031340462472992972016-09-11T18:42:00.003+07:002016-09-11T18:43:01.798+07:00Vicious by V. E. Schwab<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1362495700l/13638125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1362495700l/13638125.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">V. E. Schwab</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Vicious</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tor Books</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">362 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8.8 <b><u><span style="color: red;">(Best New Book)</span></u></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText12001615106775616685" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;">Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;">The wise Nietzsche once said, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you," which all leads to multiple interpretations that can be summarized into one simple sentence: fighting monsters creates new monsters. Someone who fights evil, using all measures and utilities, for greater good and justified eventually becomes an evil itself--as he annihilates the evil and is tempted by the evil itself, creating new evil. It seems confusing, but for </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/www.victoriaschwab.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: red;">Victoria Schwab</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"> it isn't that hard to understand, and it's the quintessence of Friederich's words is embodied in </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;">Vicious</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;">, her first adult book. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mostly known by her young adult books, many people cast a shadow of doubt for Schwab's first adult book. Can she make an adult book with such complexity and mature content that's expected from an adult book? All that shadow of doubt is hit by crepuscular light when <em>Vicious</em> arrives. Not only this book is complex, but it shuts the dubiousness. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><em style="font-style: italic;">Vicious</em> is amazing--and that one word doesn't even describe this book thoroughly. Everything from characters, plot, how Schwab crafts words, conflict, Freytag's pyramid, it's all good. Vicious's plot rolls like a long tapestry, where she depicts the gray characters, arguing that actually there's no such thing as bad people in this world, only people who think what he believes is right. As the whole book is viewed from two anti-heroes' perspective, it's completely fascinating to see where actually each of them's state of mind stands. You may incline to support one character or the other, and that's a proof that Schwab is successful in creating gray characters. It reminds me of <i>Chaos Walking</i> series where everything is gray, no one's right or wrong. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Vicious</i> is also blessed with secondary characters that are realistic and earnest. Mitch Turner, for example, a bulk man who's covered in tattoos somehow defies the stereotype of dumb and vile buffed man. On the contrary, he turns out to be such a smart and caring man. Sydney, a 13-year-old girl whose power is so powerful is a shy girl, but as her character develops, she can show such bravery. Serena, her sister, is portrayed as a cold-blooded sister, but eventually it's revealed why she acts that way. Schwab's characters are soulful. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The concept behind the superpower, while not possible, does make sense and is able to hold my suspension of disbelief. Vicious takes place in English/American-esque fictional country, with fictional cities. It's enticing and tempting, and that makes <em>Vicious</em>'s worldbuilding is enjoyable and believable. At the beginning, <em>Vicious</em> seems normal and mundane, as the plot goes back and forth between last night and ten years ago. But, Schwab's way of rolling her plot somehow perfectly builds the moments, as the back story starts to root and give such strong foundation, so it makes her easy to fasten the pace in the climax. The result is gorgeous. <em>Vicious</em> is not action packed, but it's able to hold your breath. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's hard to make a good urban fantasy, especially an adult one. But, Schwab somehow makes it look so effortless in <em>Vicious</em>, one of my best reads this year.</span></span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-65979833432298303882016-08-13T08:56:00.000+07:002016-08-13T08:56:10.576+07:00Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327876498l/8100904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327876498l/8100904.jpg" width="130" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Patrick Ness</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Monsters of Men</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Walker Books</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">602 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9.2 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others. Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no chance of escape. As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there ever be peace when they're so hopelessly outnumbered?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Sometimes you just need to fuck what your readers might want for the ending of your book off, and just do it on your own way. </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/www.patrickness.com" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Patrick Ness</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> is fully aware of it. He actually can close the trilogy with satisfying ending where everyone lives happily ever after, but in lieu of that, he dauntlessly decides to put some vague ending, yet poignant and that's how you're supposed to end your book. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Hands down, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Monsters of Men</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, the conclusion of the impressive Chaos Walking trilogy is the best of all three. It is much more intense, an emotional roller-coaster journey, that's rarely portrayed in a young-adult book. But, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Monsters of Men</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> defies young adult book's cliché, proving what good young adult books are capable of doing, making </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Chaos Walking</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> an instant classic in literature world. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-699706218139142622016-08-13T08:50:00.003+07:002016-08-13T08:50:36.289+07:00The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Patrick Ness</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Ask and the Answer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Walker Books</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">517 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.8 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span id="freeText18089988630783164403" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss.<br /><br />Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order.<br /><br />But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer?<br /><br />And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...<br /><br />This second thrilling volume in the Chaos Walking trilogy is a tense, shocking and deeply moving novel about resistance under the most extreme pressure.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">After leaving Todd and Viola's fate unknown in the first book, Ness continues the story exactly a few hours after the last scene in </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Todd is taken by the Mayor Prentiss--whose now is silent as a deer, while it's not just until a few pages in when we finally know Viola's fate. But, this tranquility is ephemeral, as Mayor Prentiss meets his match, the one who tries to fight him, the one's who's as sinister as him. Todd & Viola must choose a side even if it means they have to go separate ways. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Compared to </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Ask and the Answer</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> is more intense, with more bloody scene that makes you gasp. The book is filled with more pain, as the pain that Todd & Viola must bear in the first book is nothing compared to what they must go through in the book. Nedd realistically portrays their feeling from their respective point of views, making Todd & Viola are one of the perfect duos in the world of dystopian fiction. The battle between the Ask and the Answer is not the only thing that makes the book bloodier, but one more side comes marching toward them in the end of the book: the common enemy for the Ask and the Answer, and the question is whether their hatred toward each other will blind them to fight together against the common enemy or not. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Ask and the Answer</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> explores human's choice. Ness ostensibly argues that actually there's no bad and evil, and it's just a matter of perpsective. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">In conclusion, the successor of </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2118745.The_Knife_of_Never_Letting_Go__Chaos_Walking___1_" style="color: #00635d;" title="The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) by Patrick Ness">The Knife of Never Letting Go</a> </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">is more superior. In </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Ask and the Answer</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, Ness builds much more realistic depiction of reality when the border between bad and evil is blurred, making </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Ask and the Answer</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> a microcosm of our world where such blurry border exists and what we are is which side we choose.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-59097181073538609042016-08-13T08:46:00.003+07:002016-08-13T08:46:54.045+07:00The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Patrick Ness</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Walker Books</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">479 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.7 (Best Book)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">What distinguishes </span><a href="http://www.patrickness.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Patrick Ness'</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming-of-age_story" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">coming-of-age story</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> from other stories is probably his ability to bind the lessons of what we must go through before entering the stage of adulthood, impressive moral values, and enchanting plot without being messy and all over the place. There's usually a major theme in each of Ness' books. </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1328032097?book_show_action=false" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><em>A Monster Calls</em></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">--even if the idea comes from the late Siobhan Dowd--teaches us the acceptance of past, something that's not only painful, but also inevitable. This whole moral lesson is disguised under charming plot that's filled with feeling. In </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, the first book of Chaos Walking trilogy, the major theme is the lose of innocence, one precious thing that we all lost when we become an adult. But, that doesn't mean </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> cannot be enjoyed by adult people. In fact, this book makes us, adult people, ponder where all our innocence goes. Are the consequences of giving up the innocence worth it?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">This one-million dollar question is what Todd Hewitt, our character, must go through during his journey in </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Living in a planet where people can hear each others' thought, the planet where Todd lives is no tranquil place. But the sound of men in his town, Prentisstown, is full of desperation and vileness, but Todd never realizes it until he hears silence. As the plot unfolds, the whole truth of Prentisstown and the silences are something that Todd learns when he decides to escape from that town which keeps lies and secrets. The blurb is something that's intriguing that's able to make wonder what the </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">eff</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> actually happens, and with a fast-paced tempo, Ness begins to uncover the secrets in an enchanting way, like a grandfather who tells stories to his grandchildren. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">'s worldbuilding is the highlight of the book, where Ness creates a whole new planet as a new place for technologically-advanced civilians to start to rebuild their new life. In a way, it kinda reminds me of Orson Scott Card's </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8100267.Pathfinder__Pathfinder___1_" style="color: #00635d;" title="Pathfinder (Pathfinder, #1) by Orson Scott Card">Pathfinder</a> </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, where advanced technology can be combined with heathen lifestyle. Each settlements have their characteristics, a settlement where the woman rules, a settlement where people go crazy due to not being able to comprehend with the Noise, or a settlement whose building all made of glass, giving Zamyatin's </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76171.We" style="color: #00635d;" title="We by Yevgeny Zamyatin">We</a> </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">a shout out. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">There are so many hidden allegories within the book that you may feel so overwhelmed by this, but that's Patrick Ness for you. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> may feature one of the goriest murder in young adult books, but that's necessary not only to drive the plot, but also to show the readers the moral consequences of killing people. It's a representation of killing your innocence. Ness shows us Todd's moral choices of killing or not killing. The concept of Noise may represent the abundant of information that we get everyday, and sometimes knowing too much information can be stressful and frustrating. But, that's just the surface of how complex this book is. As a narrator of the book, Todd's voice is raw and unfiltered and pure. He's not aware of the concept of feeling due to the people's Noises that he keeps hearing, but when Viola comes, a girl he saves from the folks of Prentisstown, Todd slowly begins to learn the meaning of feeling. And it's just interesting because it depicts the gender dichotomy in reality where men tend to think logical, and women tend to feel. But, that's where Ness emerges in, and indeed Ness is an author with dominant introverted-feeling that it's clearly reflected in his works; </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> is full of feeling. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">But, that's not the only why </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> impacts you. Ness sculpts a realistic characters, infused all of them with soul. Even the animals in this book have more personality than most of characters in young adult books. Todd and Viola are characters that make you sympathize. The villains are evil, yet humane--especially when you read the successor of the book. The animals in </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> also have Noise, but Ness doesn't make them talk comprehensively, but each animal is only able to say simple words. The most picturesque thing in the book occurs when Todd and Viola walks through the cacophonous choir of animals' Noise, that for the first time Todd feels that Noise can be beautiful. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Knife of Never Letting Go</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> is impressive coming-of-age story that's important and should be read by people, that one book that reminisces the innocence of our children, and where all good things go.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-48939941861566668752016-07-14T09:10:00.004+07:002016-07-14T09:10:39.407+07:00Kondisi Ketakutan - State of Fear oleh Michael Crichton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Michael Crichton</strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Kondisi Ketakutan - State of Fear</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Gramedia Pustaka Utama</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">632 halaman</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">6.3</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span id="freeText10677244031366110389" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Benarkah dunia mengalami pemanasan global? Benarkah bencana alam terjadi karena ketidakpedulian pada alam? Bagaimana jika semua itu hanya omong kosong dan cuma alat untuk menakut-nakuti publik dan dijadikan isu sebagai alat memperoleh uang dari kalangan industri?<br /><br />Peter Evans, pengacara miliuner George Morton yang rajin memberikan sumbangan untuk LSM lingkungan bernama NERF. Tapi Morton belakangan membatalkan sumbangan $10 juta-nya karena menemukan beberapa fakta ganjil tentang lembaga tersebut. Salah satunya dugaan keterlibatan LSM itu dengan organisasi teroris yang berniat menimbulkan tiga bencana alam di seluruh dunia, termasuk gelombang tsunami yang akan melanda Florida. Dibantu agen pemerintah yang bekerja sebagai dosen MIT, asisten George Morton yang cantik, dan anggota NERF yang "tobat", Peter Evans bertualang dari Antartika sampai Kepulauan Solomon untuk menyingkap intrik dan konspirasi di balik bencana alam yang sengaja ditimbulkan untuk menciptakan kondisi ketakutan.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Tiga tahun setelah </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> terbit, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Al Gore</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> menerima Nobel Perdamaian akan kontribusinya bersama </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">IPCC</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> menyuarakan isu-isu pemanasan global dan kaitannya dengan kemiskinan dan kesejahteraan umat manusia. Untuk kedua kalinya secara berturut-turut, setelah Muhammad Yunus menerima penghargaan yang sama pada tahun sebelumnya, Komite Nobel menyadari bahwa perdamaian bukan hanya perkara mengenai menghentikan perang atau menengahi perseteruan antarbangsa, melainkan juga berkaitan erat dengan kesejahteraan masyarakat. Kemenangan Al Gore ini seakan-akan menjadi acungan jari tengah akan Crichton dan opini terselubungnya dalam </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Dalam </span><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/gore-lecture_en.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">pidato penerimaan</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> Nobel-nya, Al Gore mengajak semua bangsa di dunia untuk bersama-sama berjalan menuju satu tujuan: masa depan bumi yang bisa ditinggali dengan nyaman.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Keadaan di dunia nyata, tentu saja berbeda dengan dunia yang dibangun Crichton dalam </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Dalam </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, organisasi prolingkungan radikal ternyata berkonspirasi akan kebenaran mengenai pemanasan global dan berencana menciptakan katastrofe global untuk membuktikan bahwa pemanasan global adalah hal yang nyata. Crichton, tentu saja bisa dengan sangat meyakinkan pembacanya bahwa pemanasan global adalah isapan jempol belaka, menggiring pembacanya untuk mempertanyakan apakah apa yang mereka percayai selama ini memang benar atau tidak. Didukung dengan data-data dan grafik yang luar biasa fantastis dan meyakinkan, Crichton menguraikan argumennya akan pemanasan global yang diselubungi oleh cerita fiksi </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">thriller</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> yang menyenangkan. Jika ada salah satu kualitas terbaik dari mendiang Crichton, itu adalah kemampuannya mengaburkan batas antara fiksi dan realitas, dan itu kualitas yang diperlukan oleh seorang penulis fiksi ilmiah yang baik yang mampu membuat pembacanya mempertanyakan </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">status quo</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> yang mereka yakini. Dan</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> tidak berbeda dari buku-bukunya yang lain. Jika </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">adalah tesis mahasiswa S-2 meteorologi, buku ini mungkin bisa diluluskan. Namun, pada akhirnya </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> dikritik oleh para ilmuwan karena memeluntirkan sejumlah fakta dan data yang ada serta mengambil data tanpa konteks yang tepat. Fakta yang ironis, mengingat di dalam bukunya, tokoh antagonis dalam buku ini juga dituduh merekayasa data pemanasan global. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, menurut Crichton, menjadi alegori akan keadaan dunia nyata saat ini. Organisasi prolingkungan digambarkan sebagai orang jahat di buku ini, melebih-lebihkan isu pemanasan global. Salah satu karakter di buku ini, lawan dari organisasi prolingkungan, John Kenner, dinilai sebagai gambaran akan Crichton yang </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">smartass</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> dan memandang isu pemanasan global dengan lebih skeptis. Isu pemanasan global memang topik yang menarik, dan saya teringat akan artikel yang pernah saya baca beberapa tahun yang lalu, bahwa pemanasan global adalah siklus natural yang terjadi setiap beberapa ribu tahun sekali, dan kita tak perlu mencemaskannya. Tampaknya, Crichton juga pernah membaca artikel yang serupa dan mendukungnya mati-matian. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Namun, mengesampingkan opini Crichton yang kontra akan pemanasan global, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> sebenarnya menjadi novel </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">thriller</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> sains fiksi yang sangat seru. Crichton mengajak pembacanya ke tempat-tempat eksotis: Antartika, Kepulauan Solomon, dan (mungkin tidak terlalu eksotis) Barat Daya Amerika Serikat. Karakter-karakter utama yang dibuat juga sangat menyenangkan untuk diikuti dan membuat pembaca mampu bersimpati dengan mereka, meskipun mereka merepresentasikan sekelompok entitas yang berlawanan opini dengan kita, mereka yang menganggap pemanasan global adalah bualan. Dibumbui dengan roman picisan dan plot yang kadang tidak realistis, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">State of Fear</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> menjadi buku yang kita beli di toko buku bandara, habis dibaca dalam satu kali penerbangan dari Jakarta ke Amsterdam, lalu tertinggal di kursi pesawat setelah selesai membacanya. Buku yang menyenangkan, tetapi tidak perlu dianggap serius. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Bisa dimaklumi jika opini pembaca mulai terombang-ambing setelah membaca ini, karena data-data yang disajikan Crichton terlihat begitu memukau dan meyakinkan. Ilmu mengenai cuaca memang masih berkembang sampai sekarang meski saya percaya bahwa pemanasan global adalah hal yang nyata. Benar, pemanasan global adalah siklus natural, tapi dampak yang ditimbulkannya diperparah karena aktivitas manusia. Jika ada opini Crichton yang selaras dengan opini ilmuwan adalah bagaimanapun juga, kita semua harus tetap menjaga lingkungan--tak peduli ada pemanasan global atau tidak. Dan itu, Saudara-Saudaraku, adalah hal yang paling penting.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-33302015267482792852016-07-03T23:01:00.001+07:002016-07-03T23:01:23.136+07:00The Last Star by Rick Yancey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rick Yancey</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Last Star</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">G.P. Putnam's Sons</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">338 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6.8</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The enemy is Other. The enemy is us.</em><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves…or saving what makes us human.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">In the final installment of</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> The 5th Wave, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/www.rickyancey.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #00635d;">Rick Yancey</a> fails to remind us the stupendousness of the first installment.</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> The Last Star </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">seems messy. the plot is directionless, and its point of view is confusing. The only good thing about the book is the emotional ending, but even that also fails to salvage it from the black hole of dreadfulness</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">There seems to be some kind of syndrome that infects young adult books where a trilogy kicks in with a great start, then it's followed by a great successor, only it's ended by a meh resolution in the final book. Dashner's </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maze_Runner" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">The Maze Runner</span></a><span style="color: #00635d;"> </span></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">comes in mind, when at first, it looks great in the first book, even better in second one, but leaves some sour taste in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Cure" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: red;">The Death Cure</span></em></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Arguably, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13335037.Divergent__Divergent___1_" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" title="Divergent (Divergent, #1) by Veronica Roth"><span style="color: red;">Divergent</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> series follows the same pattern, even though Divergent, the first book of the series, is not that great. Yancey's final installment of The 5th Wave series, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Last Star</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, joins the elite club of books who suffer from this syndrome. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">I still remember the day when I read </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The 5th Wave</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> for the first time. It has a charming main character who possesses a great humor, Cassiopeia, who makes the journey in this bleak world of Yancey's creations seems more cheerful. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The 5th Wave</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> also introduces the concept of humanity; the one thing that makes human </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">human</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> amidst the catastrophe that falls upon the human beings, which becomes the main theme of the book, and Yancey emphasizes it heavily. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The 5th Wave</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> on paper brings more to the table; it's not just a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Worlds_(2005_film)" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">War of the Worlds</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">-y alien survival story, but it's something that can question what humanity means. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">However, in </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The 5th Wave</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, Yancey's cluelessness of where he should bring this story has started to show. And it's ultimately proven in </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Last Star</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. The pieces of puzzle that are still scrambling in the first two books are forced to fit, making it an ugly puzzle. This final installment does not provide answers, it offers more confusion which is fueled by the multiple PoVs that are hard to follow. Yancey's cryptic narration and metaphor don't help either, only adding more wrinkle in my forehead. The epilogue of the book is great and remarkable, though, even if the journey to this epilogue is really questionable and unimpressive, but I can say that </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Last Star</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> closes Cassie and her pals quite well. Kinda. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-66593657278304747292016-07-03T22:55:00.002+07:002016-07-03T22:59:28.072+07:00Persona oleh Fakhrisina Amalia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fakhrisina Amalia</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Persona</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gramedia Pustaka Utama</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">244 halaman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.7</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span id="freeText10772274307903735529" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Namanya Altair, seperti salah satu bintang terang di rasi Aquila yang membentuk segitiga musim panas. Azura mengenalnya di sekolah sebagai murid baru blasteran Jepang yang kesulitan menyebut huruf L pada namanya sendiri.<br /><br />Azura merasa hidupnya yang berantakan perlahan membaik dengan kehadiran Altair. Keberadaan Altair lambat laun membuat perasaan Azura terhadap Kak Nara yang sudah lama dipendam pun luntur.<br /><br />Namun, saat dia mulai jatuh cinta pada Altair, cowok itu justru menghilang tanpa kabar. Bukan hanya kehilangan Altair, Azura juga harus menghadapi kenyataan bahwa orangtuanya memiliki banyak rahasia, yang mulai terungkap satu demi satu. Dan pada saat itu, Kak Nara-lah tempat Azura berlindung.<br /><br />Ketika Azura merasa kehidupannya mulai berjalan normal, Altair kembali lagi. Dan kali ini Azura dihadapkan pada kenyataan untuk memilih antara Altair atau Kak Nara.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b>Review</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Mendengar kata "persona", hal pertama yang terlintas di kepala orang-orang--paling enggak buat orang yang suka main </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_role-playing_game" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">JRPG</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, seperti saya--adalah segerombolan bocah SMA di Jepang yang bisa mengeluarkan makhluk gaib berkekuatan super dari dalam dirinya yang selalu membawa </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Evoker" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">evoker</span></a><span style="color: #00635d;"> </span></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">ke mana-mana atau </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei:_Persona_4" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">menembus layar televisi ke dunia lain</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Meski diambil dari bahasa Latin dan "persona" adalah kata yang baku, tentu saja saya enggak tahan untuk enggak bertanya apakah </span><a href="https://twitter.com/loveliestr" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Amalia</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> ter-</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">influence</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> dari </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">franchise</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> Persona. Ketika jawabannya enggak, saya agak </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">ngedumel</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Namun, setelah memahami hakikat dari arti kata "persona" sendiri dan membaca cerita ini, saya akhirnya paham kenapa cerita ini diberi judul demikian. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Hal yang paling kuat dari buku ini adalah plot utamanya. Kehadiran Altair yang mewarnai hari-hari Azura, serta alasan kenapa ia menghilang sudah dengan bisa mudah ditebak ketika ia pertama kali muncul, karena Amalia yang berbaik hati menebarkan petunjuk-petunjuk. Sedikit mengingatkan saya akan <i>Made You Up</i>,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> Persona sebetulnya tidak menawarkan sesuatu yang baru. Namun, cara Amalia bercerita yang dipenuhi dengan luapan-luapan emosi Azura membuat Persona ini memiliki "perasaan", dan itu hal yang bagus, meskipun "perasaan" itu tidak sekuat di buku Amalia sebelumnya, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1380783112?book_show_action=false" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: red;">Happiness</span></em></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, yang menurut saya masih menjadi karya terbaik Amalia. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Persona</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> bisa menjadi karya terbaik Amalia, tentu saja, karena cara bernarasi Amalia yang sudah lebih luwes, tetapi temanya yang terasa </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">distant</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> meskipun nyata. Itu sebabnya </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Persona</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> jadi kurang begitu </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">relatable </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">dengan pembacanya, tetapi </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Persona</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> menjadi buku yang penting karena mengangkat tema yang jarang diangkat oleh novel </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">young adult</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. Sekali lagi, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">young adult</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> bisa membuka mata remaja-remaja akan kondisi-kondisi yang mungkin jarang mereka jumpai, tetapi </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">real</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, dan itu penting. Meski saya mengharapkan detail yang lebih digali lagi, karena ini topik yang cukup mengawang-awang, dan saya yakin banyak orang yang masih belum </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">aware</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">akan hal ini.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Di </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Persona</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> juga, sekali lagi Amalia menaruh </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">ending</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> yang luar biasa berkesan, dan enggak bisa dimungkiri, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">ending</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> Persona adalah hal terbaik dari buku ini, meski terkesan agak </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">manga-ish</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, tetapi tetap berkesan. Dan itu yang berhasil membuat </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Persona</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> salah satu novel dari lini Young Adult yang paling baik.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099312858527785179.post-83162823216743784012016-07-03T22:50:00.005+07:002016-07-03T22:50:51.158+07:00The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rick Riordan</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Hidden Oracle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dysney Hyperion</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">376 pages</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.1</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blurb</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">How do you punish an immortal?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">By making him human.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">You don't go to </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/rickriordan.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Rick Riordan</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> for authenticity or originality; you go to Rick Riordan for entertainment. And that's exactly what he offers in his latest effort, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Hidden Oracle</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">If you read </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Hidden Oracle</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, you may start humming, "Oh, boy, here we go again." Riordan may milk this Demigod franchise over and over again, but he has something that many other writers lack of: the knack for writing something entertaining. After all, the main purpose of narrative text is to entertain, and Riordan, like it or not, has met the purpose. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Hidden Oracle</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> is no exception. It's still entertaining as ever, like his previous books are. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The main character, Apollo, who's punished by Zeus to be a mere mortal has the same voice with Percy or </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1311304360?book_show_action=false" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Magnus Chas</span></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1311304360?book_show_action=false" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">e</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">: sarcastic, humorous, and kinda stupid--but more megalomaniac and narcissistic. It's indeed fun, of course, to read from Apollo's point of view, and Riordan's humor is still as funny as his previous books. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">However, the plot is recycled over and over again. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Trials of Apollo</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">, shorter than most of Riordan's opus, is able to deliver a new villain(s), while he can still connect them to his previous Demigod series. It's mesmerizing, to be honest, after having been milked for more than ten books, Greek myths still have anything to be milked--but that's the case here. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Trials of Apollo</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">offers new section of Greek myths--that surprisingly are still untouched in his previous books. And that's refreshing nonetheless. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">It seems like Riordan can't let his characters go, and that's completely humane. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Trials of Apollo</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> becomes a nice little reunion for our beloved characters from Heroes of Olympus, that I quite enjoy. I just hope that Riordan will let them go. Maybe someday.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06183431541353336833noreply@blogger.com0